Transcripts
1. Introudaction: Today I want to be talking
about for this is, this is definitely
not first video. I've made this topic, but
I wanted to do it again. I feel like making a lot
of these is helpful. That way I can tackle
different pieces of advice and you guys just
have plenty of view. So you can watch surrounding just advice and tips
for new authors. Because I know that the majority of you guys who actually watched my videos are completely
new to writing, are some semi-nude to writing. So I hope these
videos are helpful. But anyway, so today, as I'm sure you can guess from the title and
also the intro, we are talking about how to get into writing as a beginner. And that is more like, how do you get started? How do you find your groove? All these different
things I feel like in the past I've talked
more about oh, what should you expect
or what's her supplies? Do you need stuff like that? But in this video, I
just want to talk about overall advice for
just getting you started and my advice for new authors like things
that I kinda wish I knew before I started writing, before I committed to anything, committed to
publishing whatever. But so I hope that the
city is helpful for any semi new or totally
new authors or univariate, totally veteran and author. And you're like, I
just want to watch this video. I hope you like it.
2. Experiment Practice: The first thing that I am
going to suggest you do as a new writer is
just experiment. I feel like this
is so overlooked, especially by new
authors because you're just excited you
want to get into it. And I did the same thing when
I was first starting out. I was like, I just want
to publish a book. I just wanted to do
it and I get it. But I would highly,
highly suggest that you take some time that can be whatever time bring
you want it to be. It can be weeks, it can be months,
it can be years. Literally just experimenting, experiment with story ideas, experiment with
characters, genres, worlds, a different method
like ways of writing. Find your own life, voice
within your own writing. Just practice. Because I feel like when you commit to fast to
your first idea, not only is it like
a lot of pressure to make that first
idea like really, really great, which
it rarely is. There. He is probably
not going to be the best thing you
can come up with. So not only does it do that, but it also takes away that practice time
because now you have to commit to this one story, this collection of characters, this world, this genre. You're suddenly
committing to that without trying
anything else out. Like, I really do wish that I had experimented a little
bit more like I'm a, I'm a fantasy writer,
if you don t know. I'm a fantasy writer. And obviously I can go into sub-genres associated with that. But beforehand, I didn't
really experiment with anything except for
fantasy and sci-fi. Those are the only two that
I really experimented with. And looking back, I kinda wish that I had tried
other stuff as well, just to not only
just give it a shot, but also to expand my knowledge. Because the more practice
you get in different genres, you can pull stuff into the
genre you're working with. If that makes sense. Like
if you experiment with like a modern romance or
it's like a comedy, you can pull those things into pretty much any genre
like you have it, like you're getting
more experience is not going to hurt you, isn't going to hurt
you in any way. It's just going to make you
a more well-rounded author, even if you don't necessarily, right for those genres,
if you know what I mean. So take advantage of it. I now I'm doing, this is why I really
liked doing reading challenges is now on
his channel because I just love trying
different things and eventually I'll
get around to doing challenges where I've
tried writing books or even short stories for genres
I've never written for. And that's going to
be an experience. So if you're not subscribed yet, definitely subscribe
for those videos because they're gonna be, they're gonna be
enjoyed to film. So that is something I
wanna do eventually, and that's what I'm doing now. I'm kinda playing
catch-up in a sense, but it's also nice to get to film it and make
content out of it. But at the same time, I would
just suggest that you do all this before you even start
writing your first book. So it's just going to
be your first book even better than, you know, just get
the experience, get the practice before you force yourself to commit
to a single story, a story, and just leave it
on the back burner for now. You can come back to it later when you have
more experience, more knowledge, and then
you can just bang it out. Be amazing, amazing story. You got to just experiment with misled advice and going off of experimenting. I'm going to push it
one step further. Don't only experiment with the types of stories are
the types of characters, types of genres that you like. Also experiment
with the types of routines that you like that other authors
do that makes sense. Like some examples would be like writing on paper versus trying
to write on the computer. Try both out try it. Like when it comes to outlining, outlining tried to me
in the pants or method where you literally
just write without any kind of plan or with
very minimalistic plan, trying different
ways of getting into your writing zone or
your author zone. You know where your
length in the zone, just start writing and
creating your story. Tried different methods
of getting into that. Like I know some
people like music, some people like
to go for a walk. Some people like a very
certain space to work in, whether that's a desk
or a chair or whatever, in a certain room. Do you like all of your stuff
to be in a certain way, like organized in a certain way. Like there's so many
different things. Even if it's like a certain
article of clothing or like a blanket or a pillow that you
always like to write with. Like, you know, you can
literally be anything. So test out the waters
with that because that's going to help you create
your own little routine. I feel like every author
has their own little routine that they do
before they write. Like for me, like my routine
usually not all the time. It doesn't always
happen, but usually my routine is going for a walk, listening to a certain
storing playlist or character playlist depending on what I'm working on that day. And then I come back, work
at my desk, clear the space. I start working. That is just my
method of doing it. It's nothing crazy,
nothing like super, super nice or like
fancy, whatever. I usually do like to get
somewhat comfortable, but it can literally
be anything. So that'll be my, I know that every author pretty
much just something a little bit different here, so probably be a
little bit different. So just up the
waters a little bit. Try some different routines, see what works for you. But yeah, that'll
be my next piece of advice because
if you can have a routine that's not only going to help you
with productivity, but it's also going
to just make you feel more comfortable writing.
3. Consume Content: This next one, this is one I
love and I still do today. This is something that I feel like isn't talked about a lot. I don't hear a lot of
authors talking about this, but I love this. What it is, is literally just consuming as much
content as possible, whether that's through books, movies, TV shows, even
just listening to like family members or friends like stories that
they're telling you. So much. The last one, that's where we kind of get some ideas. But the first thing I
want to talk about is like analyzing other stories. Like look at the story, look at the arcs, look
at the characters, look at the world-building, look at all the aspects
like analyze it. Like I love doing that. I loved doing that. Look at series or stories
that you love, right? And then think about, okay,
Who's my favorite character? Why? Why are they your
favorite character? Think about that.
Think like Lily. Lily, sit down and be like, why are they making
your character? Is it their personality? Is it that I just
relate to them? Their appearance is it's
the way that they grow. Like Do I like the story arc that they have within the story, like figure it out. And I can be more
than one reason. I love doing that every
time I consume a new story, I will think about who then have a character
who don't, I like? Who has good character
development? Who doesn't do? I like where the story's going and do
I like this archway, not like that arc, like all these different
things you can look at so many
different things. Analyze it, pick apart. You'll notice is everything
you watch or you read. You don't have to
deal with everything, but do it with as many things
as you really want to. I think that it's
really valuable to keep your writer brain
on as often as possible. You're just consuming new
stories and new content. Just got to interrupt
me anytime. I don't think that's going
to stop anytime soon. I'm so sorry. Okay. I'm just going to continue. Please ignore the barking of hope you can hear
it. I can hear it. Even talking about oh, the reason why I tell you to
do this is because not only does it help me come up with new ideas, like I can look at. This is what I also
like taller people who liked DM me on Instagram, they're like, I'm
really struggling to come up with new ideas. I got home someone's
writer's block. Literally my advice to
them 90% of the time. It's just like Okay, take
a step back for a week or something like that from
whatever you're working on and go consume content. Because like and look
like characters. Look at character arcs, look at Stuart liquid, look at plot lines like
that's going to give you a lot of inspiration if
you're looking for stuff, guarantee you, I
guarantee you, well. And that can be whatever type of Jacobi reading that
can be television, that can be, again, just
stories people tell you. Like. That's how you're going to get the majority of your ideas, at least in my experience. So that'll be my advice to anyone who's
struggling with that. But that's why I
really liked that. And also just makes
you a better writer. Because you're analyzing stuff, you're practicing looking
at story structure, you're practicing
looking at characters and they can get the character
profile in your head. I think so many
different things. It just makes you a better
writer. I guarantee you. If I didn't consume
the amount of books and shows that I do right now. I feel like I would not
be nearly as good of a writer as I am now because I'm just practicing and
practicing all that stuff. So that would be a big piece
of advice I can give you. And you can just do
that in your free time. Like you don't have
to like section out time for that just
doing in your free time. Anyway.
7. Reach Out To Authors: The next piece of
advice is going to be reaching out
to other authors. I know this is
super intimidating, especially as a new writer. Trust me, I know. I was honestly kind of lucky that when I started my YouTube, like I found a couple of
authors who are already established just randomly reach out to me and let
me feel so special. I felt so special and
I was like, Oh my god, you people are noticing me because I'm not really someone
to like go out of my way, like quote unquote, bother someone like that's just
how my brain works. I like, I don't
want to bother you like I'll watch from a distance, you know, but if you can
communicate with other authors, whether that's even just
people in your life who read books, who like books, who even just like
stories in general, who write on the
side as a hobby. Like I don't have a lot of
friends who really enjoy like acting like I was I was a drama kid in high
school who's surprised. So many of those people loved, obviously stories in general. So that's who I would
like connect with. I talked to all those people. I think about half
of them probably wrote stories on
the sides though, like I had that community a
little bit with those people. But if you don't
have that community and you don't feel
comfortable talking to you. Well, you don't feel comfortable reaching out to other authors, like public authors,
that's totally fine. What I would say to you is then maybe turn
to something like YouTube where people do author
blogs, myself included. And try to find someone who
maybe writes for your genre, who you maybe like
the personality. I assume you have to
like their personality if we're going to
watch their videos. But I really like watching
other author, author blogs. It's not only does it help
me with like motivation, but it also helps me connect
with them like I'm like, Oh my God, that's so relatable. I legitimately I'm like, Oh my God, I do that too. Oh my God. That's so funny. Like I feel like I'm a part of the community even though
they don't know exist. And then on top of that, it also allows you,
at least for me. Sometimes it offers up an
opportunity for me to view a part of the writing
process or something like that in a totally
different way. And I'm like, Oh my God, never even thought about it like that. And I totally changed my perspective doing
that kind of stuff, just connecting
with other authors, whether that's you reaching
out to them or even just watching the content that they have or even just reading
the books that they put out. That's still something, right? So that'll be my next
suggestion is just to try to expand your knowledge, trying to connect with other
authors to other authors do and not necessarily
copy them obviously, but finding people
who may be even inspire you or people you
want to be like or whatever, like just trying to find
those types of people and try to connect with them and whatever way
that means for you, it's definitely going
to help you out.
8. Start With A Shorter Story: And then my final
piece of advice here, because this video is
very long, I'm sorry. That I would definitely, definitely suggest
starting out with a smaller story as
a new beginner. And let me explain. So a lesson I learned very early in their career is that when you're new to
writing and whatnot, you want to expand
your reach as much as possible when it comes to bringing new readers
and whatnot. And I realized that
starting off with a long series of books within the same universe
seems characters, same story, basically, that's
not really going to do it. You'll probably be
able to bring in maybe a few readers with each new
installment that comes out. Maybe they're interested
in the cover or they read the back of the story, read the little blurb or
whatever and they're like, oh, that sounds interesting. And then they go back to the
beginning and read through. But it's still the same story, it's still the same characters. And that's not
necessarily going to help you too much with
expanding your reach. So my advice to new
writers out there, like obviously doing long series or something wrong
with that at all. But I would suggest
not doing that as your first book or books. I just want to
suggest it because again, it's going
to make it really, really tough to bring in
new readers with each book, especially if you're like
self-publishing yourself, others and that's all on you. It's going to be
way tougher than if you were traditionally
publishing. But anyway, I would suggest just starting out with
stand-alone books or even just books
with two installments, three installments, like
three installments, I'd say would be the maximum because we all know how long
it takes to write a book. It takes a long time. So I feel like
that time would be better spent working
on more standalone. So you can reach out to
different people with different types of stories
to bring in more readers. And then when you
have a bit more of a audience, can say fanbase, more of an audience, then you can start doing those
longer series because you know that you have a
bit more of a platform. I guess if that makes sense, anyway, that would be my advice. If you disagree,
that's totally fine. I feel like that's
just my experience. I feel like I will get
a better understanding and be able to give a bit more my experience when I
actually published more my series and whatnot and don't get me wrong. I love my series. I'll plug it, unplugging
it down below. You can go check up
the first installment. Here's the cover. Like, I love my series. I do not regret putting
this series though. I'm still working. I am so excited to continue it. I'm so excited to finish
it, but looking back, I'm just kinda like
I'm going to take me a long time to
finish the series. And if people don't like
it and I'm just stuck, just need the vintage it. And it's gonna be like five
bucks or something like that. So i'm I'm in for the long haul. So it's just a lot
more pressure to like make sure you're
bringing people in with each installment
and keeping them bunch of like
stand-alone books, then that's a little bit easier to manage
because it's like, oh, people don't really
like that story. Okay, I'm going to shift
things a little bit. I'm going to change my mindset. I'm going to change this,
that whatever and create a whole new story that
holds the people like more. You can kind of test the
waters a little bit more. And with that, and I feel like that would be the
best thing to do as a beginner, but I digress.
Olivia Veenstra, Author
